What Dreams Are Made Of
by When Darkness Rises
Summary: "In the time before the concept of 'time', the spiritual and material realms were known as one. Mortals are corrupt beings, thus we split them apart, and two material worlds were born." Dreams are what connects them. Some seek guidance, and some revenge.


**Hello! I guess you could classify these as vignettes. I originally wrote the first one and intended it to be an oneshot, but things to happen, ya know? The last two are shorter than the first one, but the last one is my favorite. I like the creepiness of it. It's different that the others. Anyways, I hope you enjoy them. Criticism is welcomed. Then after it's fixed, I'll update this. :3 By the way, I want to do a group that focuses on Al, but it won't be connected by dreams. What do you think?**

**Group one: What Dreams Are Made Of**

Dreams: a sequence of images that appear involuntarily to the mind of somebody who is sleeping, often a mixture of _real and imaginary_ characters, places, and events.

**-Different yet Same-**

It was the eve of Sozin's Comet. Whether they lived to tell the tale of victory or disappeared into the afterlife would all be decided tomorrow. All the people he loved and cared for passed through Aang's mind, each conjuring special and happy moments they shared. Letting them down, letting them die, wasn't an option. Yet how could he accomplish something his lifelong beliefs pointed him in the opposite direction?

Aang grudgingly stood up, his heart and mind unable to twist around the idea of taking another life. Four of his past lives, even a fellow monk, urged him to kill Ozai, some more subtle than others. Yet he couldn't. It was no longer an internal debate about marring his soul with unholy blood. How could he possibly hope to save the world by continuing the cycle of death and hatred himself?

Momo happily perched on Aang's shoulder and licked the side of his face.

"Thanks Momo." Aang petted the flying lemur before Momo flew in search for more juicy fruit.

The place he was lost in was lush and beautiful. Trees dotted the area, delicious fruit hanging from their barked limbs. Flowers, shrubs, and other flora sprouted from the ground, dancing in the slight breeze. He closed his eyes and heard the patter of small paws on the ground. Even the soil between his toes felt cool and soft. Whatever this place may be, it made Aang's heart soar, it made him feel one with it.

His eyes still closed, Aang now heard the sound of something moaning. They opened quickly. Someone! Instinctively reaching for his staff, he found it gone. "Oh, yeah." Unsure whether the moaner was friend or foe, he approached with caution.

"Please don't let it be Ozai. Please don't let it be Ozai." He repeated this several times mentally after realizing it wouldn't wise to give his position away if it really was an unfriendly firebender.

Aang's head popped up from the bushes, spying on the peculiar person plopped up against a banana tree. His body seemed more mature than his own, yet he appeared to have the same height. He had golden hair sprawled among his shoulders, and had a bandage on his face. It was the stranger's arm that hung in a cast that caught Aang's attention. The right arm appeared metallic, shimmering under the starlight. That couldn't be right.

The stranger stirred once more and winced at the sight of his busted metallic arm.

"Winry is going to kill me," he groaned. "Where the hell am I?" Using the tree's trunk to help his shaky balance, he stood. "The homunculi… I bet they did this." A light growl emitted from his sore throat, and he crashed back down. His golden eyes widened, realizing something more important than all of the former. "Al." He pounded the earth beneath him. He shouted the name, his voice now scratchy. "Al!"

The more the stranger thought out loud, the more he confused Aang. Aang pushed himself out of the brushes, leaves sticking on his face. The stranger narrowed his eyes, and raised his good, nonmetallic arm defensively.

"Are you okay?" The young avatar asked. "You don't look well."

The stranger chuckled and dropped his arm, though caution still loomed in his eyes. "I believe you just answered your own question." Once again, he attempted to stand, succeeding. "You wouldn't happen to see a metal suit of armor nearby?" Aang shook his head. "It figures." Things were never simple and easy for the young alchemist. "The name's Edward Elric. Maybe you heard of me." He added half smugly, "The Fullmetal Alchemist."

Aang shook his tattooed head, a negative. "I'm Aang; the Avatar."

Edward whistled, thinking Avatar as another alchemist title. "Whoa, never met a State Alchemist younger than me."

"So you _are_ just shorter!"

"Who are you callin' smaller than rice grain being eaten by a shrimp bigger than me!" His eyes fumed with a red gleam Aang only saw in firebenders. "Well, baldy! Got somethin' to say?" A loud rumble echoed from Edward's stomach. His cheeks matched his burning eyes.

Aang burst out laughing. Using a gush of wind, he jumped above to the banana tree and grabbed two bananas. Once on the ground again, he handed one to Edward. "Does this make us even?"

Edward stammered and took the banana. "How'd you do that? No alchemic circle, no clapping of the hands. How's that possible?"

"It's airbending, not whatever you just said." Edward only gave him a blank stare. "Some people are born with the ability to bend. We use the energy with our body to manipulate a certain element," he explained. In fluid, graceful movements, Aang moved the formerly grounded leaves into the air and blew them nearly a hundred feet away. "Different nations have different element." Aang left out the fact he was the remaining airbender. "Each bending style use different martial arts like I just showed."

Edward sighed. "Yep, nothing's ever simple. How do you… bend, is it?" He leaned in closely, poking his forehead. Was it the arrow, maybe? Like an alchemic circle? From the twitch in the kid's eye, Edward backed off. "Do you think I can learn it, 'cause there's a whole list of baddies I have asses to kick."

"No!" Aang exclaimed, and then sheepishly looked Edward back in the eye. Leaves around them began to rustle. "Sorry, but airbending shouldn't be used for harming people. I always do my best not to."

"But you have," Edward pointed out. This kid's nice, he knew this instinctively. Maybe it was the aura he had.

"I'm the Avatar. I can bend all the elements and have mystical powers, so it's my duty to save the world…"

"And in the process you have to hurt people. " Aang shifted his eyes. "And?" This was bad. No kid should have to do that.

"Everybody keeps telling me I have to kill Fire Lord Ozai. He's an evil man and will continue a reign of terror unless stopped. I can't though, not the way people want me to. I can't kill." He sighed and rubbed his aching head. "I don't know what to do." Aang took a large bite from his banana. "Sorry… I didn't mean to unload on you like that."

Winry popped into the alchemist's mind. Her voice echoed with worry in his mind. "Sometimes it's good to share things… and to listen and observe." Edward rubbed his chin thoughtfully, an idea sparking in his mind. "Look kid, where I'm from, there's no such thing as "bending." Well, not in the sense you displayed." Kneeling on his knees, he began drawing a circle in the dirt adorned with symbols, most of which Aang was unfamiliar with. "Alchemy is an ancient art of manipulating and altering matter by using natural energy." He handed Aang his uneaten banana. "Break this and place it in the circle." Aang did as he was told. Edward placed his hand on the transmutation. Blue light crackled around him and soon the banana was whole before Aang's eyes.

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Edward sat down, leaning on the tree again. Aang followed suit, still tired. "It's one of the more simple transmutations, something beginners' learn. The different transmutation circles allow you to transmute other things, to create or to destroy or to alter. _It is up to an alchemist to use their abilities wisely_… and should not attempt forbidden arts."

Aang saw Edward absently rub his metallic arm, reminiscing.

"My home is also at war, and the state alchemists are used as human weapons. We commit genocide and massacre countless. Luckily, thankfully, I haven't been called upon _yet_." He shuddered, but smiled reassuringly at Aang. "A person with power _shouldn't abuse it_, and I admire your strength to stand by your beliefs. You deserve the title of Avatar. You'll find a way." The smile left as his eyelids slowly slid down, and he mumbled something beneath his breath.

Aang only caught some of it. _Alphonse… I wish… the strength to ask… _There was that name again. _"You wouldn't happen to see a metal suit of armor nearby?"_ _"…and should not attempt forbidden arts." Edward absently rub his metallic arm, reminiscing._ Everybody had their own problems.

"_Sometimes it's good to share things… and to listen and observe."_

They both looked to the stars and moon, already fading by the upcoming sun.

"Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

Each gradually grew fainter into sleep, only less troubled than before. By the time they woke up from their short nap, the sun had risen to a beautiful morning.

Aang jumped up in a hurry. Momo landed on his shoulder, yipping in his ear. "Yeah, I know. Time to get out of here." He looked at Momo. "Did you see anything buddy?" Momo shook his head.

Edward stood back up with ease, his body feeling much better. Momo looked at him strangely. "I'm not even going to ask. Damn weird place," he muttered to himself. "Let's not split up. Don't want to get even more lost." A light bulb dinged over his head. "Why don't you use that bending stuff to fly up and see where we are?"

Aang grinned. "Yeah, I'll even show you earthbending!" He pounded his feet onto the ground, creating a circular crack around them, and the rock began floating above ground. Using similar graceful movement as before, he caused a huge gust of wind below the rock, sending them upwards into the sky.

"Whoaaa!"

For a split moment, everything was clear.

"It's so beautiful," Edward shouted, his fist pumping into the crisp air.

They landed back down with a hard thump, embarrassingly collapsing on each other. After separating their tangled bodies, they decided to head towards the shore they saw.

"Great, we're on an island. An island!" Edward tossed his hands up in the air dramatically, and then realized Aang was far ahead of him. "Aah, wait up!" He crashed into the bald kid again, nearly skidding off the cliff, but Aang blew out a gush of air to push them back. "Why'd you stop— Oh."

The "island" was moving towards another piece of land. In the straightforward terms of Edward: what the hell?

"I'm gonna go swim under and see what's what."

"I'd go, 'cept having metal limbs makes it kind hard not to drown."

"Be right back." Aang prepared to jump in, but stopped and turned back to Edward. "Before I forget, who's _Alhponse_?"

"My younger brother."

"You helped out a complete stranger, so you just gotta be a great brother. Whatever you need to ask, I'm sure he'll still love you." Without awaiting a reply from the stunned alchemist, Aang jumped underwater.

Edward laughed halfheartedly. "I can't even forgive myself for what I did…"

A few minutes passed before he saw a large ripple in the water that was moving farther and farther away. Quickly, Edward followed it by foot on the soft "island" grass. He gasped as a large paw lifted Aang out of the water and carried him father down. Picking up his pace, Edward eventually caught up to them. With his good arm gripping the thin palm of a tree and a foot securely embedded in the soil, Edward leaned into the open sky to marvel at the sight. There was a large head at the end of the island, reminding Edward of a lion.

Aang and the creature spoke, and Edward could only hear part of what the creature spoke..

_"The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can touch the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginning-less time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light."_

Soon, the creature touched Aang's forehead, a bright green light shone.

Edward gasped and lost his footing. A large splash shot upwards as he sunk into the ocean. He struggled. The small cuts he gained from the fight with the Slicer Brothers stung from the salt water seeping in his wounds. Crap. Swimming was useless. Not only did his automail weigh him down, he couldn't even use alchemy. As he sunk lower, the air slowly drained from his lungs. He couldn't die. Not here. Not now. He had too many promise to fulfill.

But he couldn't; his body wouldn't move the way he wanted.

A large paw swooped from beneath him, and Edward deliriously grabbed hold of the talons. His eyes closed from exhaustion as he was raised above water.

By the time Edward was rubbing his eyes opening again, the land Aang left on was gone. He staggered nearly off the creature's paw as he got a close up close of its face. He gasped in awe. His mind race, thinking back to all the books he read. There was nothing he could compare to such a majestic creature.

"W-who are you?" He shook his head, that didn't matter. "Why am I here?"

"In time before the concept of 'time', the spiritual and material realms were known as one. Mortals are corrupt beings, thus we split them apart, and two material worlds were born. One with what was known as bending and the other alchemy." Edward nodded, soaking in this information. "The harmony must always flow; it must ride over the edges of war and chaos. While the Avatar was created for goodness in this world, the homunculi were born in yours."

"Equivalent exchange."

"Important decisions always come. Equivalent exchange doesn't necessarily mean two options. The Avatar learned this and so will you."

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There was a knocking sound on the door, but no answer. Hughs casually let himself in, vaguely frowning at the sleeping alchemist. "Hey kid, wake up." He shuffled his hands in his pockets, flipping between notes on the warehouse or pictures of his budding daughter. The snoring kid slowly opened his eyes, something shining behind them. He opted for the photo and grinned.

"Mornin' kid. Or should I say 'afternoon?'"

Edward pushed the sheets draping him away. "Yeah, yeah." He yawned, and then noted the photos in Hughs' hand. "Oh great, more photos." He rolled his eyes and smiled. "Any new ones?"

Hughs flipped three at once, each slid between his calloused fingers. "Every day." He talked gaga as he walked at Edward's bedside. "Look, she has a new dress."

Edward absently thought of his brother and what he would say. And, more importantly, what the creature meant by options. Now was not the time. He was busy enjoying the time he had to himself. The time would come soon, but not now.

* * *

**-Mothers-**

Between controlling a nation, being an attentive boyfriend, and finding time to spend with his friends, Zuko felt as if his mind would soon explode. Dreams were his only comfort, free from life's worries and duties. It was a sense of freedom he hadn't experienced in a long time. There was one person, however, that would never be erased from his mind: the warm smile from his caring mother's face.

Although she was constantly on his mind while he was awake, he never saw her in his dreams. He dreamed of Azula, his sister, clawing at her chains. He dreamed of his uncle, serving jasmine tea in the gardern. He dreamed of Mai, kissing his cheek as they lied beneath satin sheets. Once he became Fire Lord, his mother no longer visited his dreams.

He pondered this as he stared up at the ceiling. Mai rolled over, in one of her rare cuddling moods. She kissed him and drew Zuko into a peaceful sleep.

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Edward lied in bed awake, unable to fall asleep. When he slept all his past mistakes plagued his mind, his body awaking in a drenched cold sweat. The night they attempted the most tabooed and depraved form of alchemy is what woke him up this night. Her face didn't leave him. One moment pure and smiling and the next… Edward shivered and pulled the covers closer to his chest.

He turned his head on the pillow, looking at his little brother. His entire fault. Alphonse sat against a wall, his head tilted down.

"Another dream?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"What's it like?"

Edward felt guilty that Alphonse hadn't experienced a dream in years. "I saw her again."

"Really? What happened?" He asked happily.

"She says…" He paused. "She hugged us like when we were little and kissed you on the forehead." He smiled at the joy his little brother felt, unable to say the truth.

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In neither space nor time, but between dreams and the afterlife, two mothers sat across from each other in a small floral table. An airy mist surrounded them as Trisha poured tea and passed it to Ursa. She smiled. "Ursa," she whispered to the woman she befriended, "Zuko is waiting. It's time for you to go."

She sipped the solemnly, her delicate fingers wrapped the teacup. A sad smile adorned her face. "But what about you?"

"It's not my time yet. You still have things to accomplish."

"Thank you." Her figure began fading, and Trisha was left alone to await her husband.

* * *

**-Victims-**

Bitter and cold. What a perfect place for her, the former princess of the grand Fire Nation. Her wrists were tightly bond to thick chains, scratching out blood that wouldn't remain warm for long. Chains wrapped around her legs, freezing her into a cross-legged sitting position. Zuko would occasionally visit, bringing in light warmth. It would blow out hastily, like a small lit candle in a blizzard. He left quickly, not able to see her in such a crazed state.

After a while, he gave up, and the Fire Lord no longer took pity on his mentally unstable sister.

"_Such a pretty lady…"_

Her head snapped up, twisting in every direction but saw nothing.

"_Heheh…" _

It was little girl's voice, sweet and softer than a whisper.

"_Not now… All twisted and rotten…"_

A shimmer. A little girl twinkled in front of Azula, only partially there. Azula reached out, her fingertips going through the little girl. Another shimmer, and the innocence vanished. Blood trickled down from her crimson eyes and burn scars patched over half of her petite auburn frame. Her little fingers poked Azula's forehead, smearing warm blood down the madwoman's cheeks. Azula shivered in the warmth, unsure whether it was from the pleasure of warmth or a fear she was denying. The phantom girl smiled.

"_What's wrong… princess?" _

Azula couldn't move, almost couldn't breathe. Vast willpower squeezed out her first words in months that didn't include maniacal laughter. "Get away," she growled. "Banished! You're banished, you hear!"

The phantom girl slapped Azula, leaving a blood-spattered handprint. Fire burning in the sting left Azula in a wide stare, her eyes dotted. The phantom girl stood back, bloody tears streaming her scarred cheeks.

"_You love blood… don't you? War? Terror? Fire! You love it all… don't you?"_

Azula couldn't deny those words.

"_That love tore my home into hate!"_

Her chains vanished, and the prison walls crumble to dust. She coughed and weakly stood.

Gunshots rang all around, shooting bodies as they fell helplessly to the dry ground. Soon there was an explosion. A laughing man with a wide smirk emerged from smoke that reeked of burning flesh. He eyed her, and his heart thumped faster. The laughter vanished, and he gave a gentlemen's bow. He walked to her as she froze with something quite similar to panic. He cupped her chin.

"What's a pretty lady like you—"

A blast of blue fire shot from her mouth, and he fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

Soon the images swirled to nothingness, leaving her alone in a pitch black abyss. She couldn't see anything. She couldn't firebend. She was what she hated the most; helpless. Moans echoed. Screams of terror. The smell of burning flesh. Hands reached out, rough and scorching. They were everywhere.

"_I thought about this a long time…"_

They yanked her hair until it ripped off.

"_At first, I thought insanity was too easy…"_

Teeth gnawed at her skin, the canines carving deeply.

"_But… it's such an easy was to bridge the gaps between worlds…"_

The wailing bodies forced Azula to her knees. The phantom girl shimmered in front of the madwoman, all soft and sweet innocence again.

"_I really hate people like you."_

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The guard passed Azula's cell. He paused for a moment, watching her twitch wildly in her sleep. He shrugged and kept on walking.


End file.
